Esca

Esca, derived from the Latin word for lure or bait, are the small luminescent organs at the tip of the dorsal ray of female anglerfish. This luminous anatomy acts as a lure to attract prey.

The Esca series expresses this underwater glow either through cast glass or skimming across cast mineral, much like an ocean floor.

Tributary

The Tributary motif is about headwaters and braided streams and also about the nature of tribute, the channeling of materials and processes into something contributory.

The works are anchoring, monumental, and express movement between elements both navigable and rough, high plateaus and shallow estuaries.

Tallow

Tallow is a series of surface explorations informed by periodic and gradual erosion.

Verticality blends into a range of plateaus, suggesting playful functions and relationships.

Isthmus

A narrow sliver of land with bodies of water on either side, an isthmus is a slender formation that tethers one frontier to another.

A passage, or connective tissue, that joins two otherwise separated masses is the language of the Isthmus series.

Cypher

Cypher is a shroud of nature’s codes. The patterns born from millions of years of DNA coding, celebrated by both the outside and the rarely seen inside of the armadillos armor, are wrapped together with human language and literature.

Promontory

Promontory is about the power and intricacy of armor in its many forms, from an unyielding ridge of limestone that has withstood erosive forces, to the armor of warriors throughout history, to the rugged creatures that dominate the arid landscape of the American West.

Shaped by evolution and developed over millennia, the shells and shields protect precious, fragile sources of life, creating tension, mystery, and delight when internal mysteries are revealed.

Sloop

Sloop is a fleet of candle holding vessels in which fluid silhouettes compel the eye to travel, and candlelight skims the crests of sculptural texture.

Inspired by ancient ceremonies, Sloop reminds us of floating tributes to transcending, fallen warriors.

Okenite

The Okenite series draws from the nature of a geode, upon splitting open, whose exterior surface is completely distinct from what has been developing on the interior.

The hand-polished fins of the vessels flow into vertical spines and hulls.

Furniture

Lighting

Objects

Montura

The Spanish term Montura encompasses the complete saddlery and tack required for horseback riding. The verb montar, meaning to ride, is to mount or to place something onto what is made specifically to receive it - the elegant coming together of forms made for one another.

The Montura series evokes this essence of saddlery and the historic functions and significance of leather and tools of the trade, as well as the intersection of volumes bound by both strict and organic geometries.

Material terrain

To learn to see and to contextualize our work as artists within the natural world is one of the many gifts of creativity.

Materiality is the foundation upon which we explore, innovate, and enjoy.

Refractory's evolving palette now includes Cast Mineral.

Artist feature: Sarah Wilson

Sarah Wilson is an Austin-based cinematographer and photographer, working with magazines such as The New York Times Magazine, Time, The Atlantic, Texas Monthly, Mother Jones, and others.

The artist behind the installation of artisan portraits in the stairwell at Refractory's sister company, West Supply, Wilson's current public art series ESSENTIALS is the definition of inspired: Portraits of Austin’s Essential Women Workers, a community-facing, interactive public art project honoring front-line women workers, portraits printed up to 20 feet tall are wheat-pasted on buildings throughout Austin.

Click here to learn more about her incredibly important work.